Euro-Feejer
Well-known member
Devon Holiday
Our son offered a Christmas gift of a few nights away at a B&B. We stretched it to 3 nights, and went a tad higher in quality, assuring him that his covering half was fine. I'd been attracted to a part of the UK we'd not explored yet... the NW corner of Devon. The Google sattelite images showed a long stretch of sandy beach that drew my attention (our local beaches are all pebbles). So Woolacombe was set as the destination. And the B&B was booked, which included ensuite and views of the beach and hills... only a 7-minute walk from the sand (https://www.downlandhouse.co.uk/).
The next bit of uncertainty was the weather. I assured the little lady that if there was going to be much rain, we'd drive the car. Many of the country roads in Devon are single-lanes through hedgerows, so I really wanted to go on the FJR. The forcasts were favorable as we approached the early-May dates, so we went for it.
Here's the route map. Total distance driven was 465 miles, including a short day-loop midway in our stay. Outbound we headed toward the north coast of Devon. Our day-loop took us up to Ilfracombe then down to a beach just south of the one we stayed near. A detour on the return trip home allowed us to visit friends who had moved from our town recently... a nice lunch stop.
In the first 20 minutes of our journey west, we pass the quaint town of Arundel, with its castle that was used in filming "Young Victoria".
We left the 'faster' highway 27 just before Chichester for a few reasons:
1. Too many roundabouts on that highway around that city are quite tiresome
2. Avoids lots of rushing traffic and 'freeway feel' through Portsmouth and Southhampton.
2. The angled road we took toward Petersfield was a favorite with low traffic and gentle turns that allowed 60mph.
3. A popular biker route (A272) took us from Petersfield to Winchester... also a gently curving 60mph road.
The first potty stop was at Loomies, a biker cafe on the A272 before Winchester. Notice in the photo how they use helmets as planters.
As the journey was over 5 hours in the saddle, we didn't stop much for photos along the way. There were many bright yellow fields with those plants that produce rapeseed oil (aka canola oil). Here's a stock photo I found online of what we were seeing.
At one point, when traffic slowed a bit, we were pleasantly surprised to see a familiar sight on the right, so the little lady captured it on her phone.
As we aimed toward the northern coast of Devon, we came upon some scenic coastal roads in the Minehead area. Here's a bum-break photo stop...
A few more photos at a further scene-soaking stop, approaching the town of Lynmouth...
After settling into our B&B, we headed down to the sand of Woolacombe, 3 miles long and nearly a half-mile wide at low tide...
The next morning, we woke up to the pleasant view visible from our bed and balcony...
It was not a biking day, as we'd planned to hike around the NW corner of Devon. I'll include a few photos highlighting the ragged edges of this coastline. The hike ended up being about 10 miles, and we were quite close to cliff-edges, spotting a few seals way down below...
This following pic is an example of how the squiggly trail kept going down into gullies and then up again to the cliffs... my Fitbit said we climbed up and down the equivalent of nearly 200 staircases.
And the bluebells (that we normally only see in forests in our area) covered many open meadows...
The far-point of our hike was the village of Lee, where we enjoyed some ice cream and a shandy at a pub. Thatch-roof homes are always quaint...
The next day, we were back on the bike for a short loop to explore the area. We headed to Ilfracombe, just around the bend on the north coast of Devon. It's got a scenic marina, and an interesting statue at the end of the quay...
Notice that this side of the statue is cut-away showing inerds...
And one more view of the town of Ilfracombe...
Next in our day-loop we headed toward the beach of Saunton. It's just south and similar size to the Woolacombe beach, but is more undeveloped along the shore. This beach has been used for some of the Normandy films...
And on the way back to Woolacombe, a photo stop with a view of the smaller Croyde Bay Beach...
One more walk on Woolacombe beach, with the little lady pointing at our B&B...
I mentioned our detour on the journey home. We had a nice lunch stop in a tiny village where our friends had recently bought this thatch-roof cottage...
Though the forecast had chances of rain, we managed to stay dry the rest of the day. As it was a Friday afternoon, there was more traffic in some areas, and we did some 'filtering' between stopped vehicles. We chose much of the same route home to avoid the rush-hours of Southhampton, Portsmouth and Chichester.
That's all folks.
Our son offered a Christmas gift of a few nights away at a B&B. We stretched it to 3 nights, and went a tad higher in quality, assuring him that his covering half was fine. I'd been attracted to a part of the UK we'd not explored yet... the NW corner of Devon. The Google sattelite images showed a long stretch of sandy beach that drew my attention (our local beaches are all pebbles). So Woolacombe was set as the destination. And the B&B was booked, which included ensuite and views of the beach and hills... only a 7-minute walk from the sand (https://www.downlandhouse.co.uk/).
The next bit of uncertainty was the weather. I assured the little lady that if there was going to be much rain, we'd drive the car. Many of the country roads in Devon are single-lanes through hedgerows, so I really wanted to go on the FJR. The forcasts were favorable as we approached the early-May dates, so we went for it.
Here's the route map. Total distance driven was 465 miles, including a short day-loop midway in our stay. Outbound we headed toward the north coast of Devon. Our day-loop took us up to Ilfracombe then down to a beach just south of the one we stayed near. A detour on the return trip home allowed us to visit friends who had moved from our town recently... a nice lunch stop.
In the first 20 minutes of our journey west, we pass the quaint town of Arundel, with its castle that was used in filming "Young Victoria".
We left the 'faster' highway 27 just before Chichester for a few reasons:
1. Too many roundabouts on that highway around that city are quite tiresome
2. Avoids lots of rushing traffic and 'freeway feel' through Portsmouth and Southhampton.
2. The angled road we took toward Petersfield was a favorite with low traffic and gentle turns that allowed 60mph.
3. A popular biker route (A272) took us from Petersfield to Winchester... also a gently curving 60mph road.
The first potty stop was at Loomies, a biker cafe on the A272 before Winchester. Notice in the photo how they use helmets as planters.
As the journey was over 5 hours in the saddle, we didn't stop much for photos along the way. There were many bright yellow fields with those plants that produce rapeseed oil (aka canola oil). Here's a stock photo I found online of what we were seeing.
At one point, when traffic slowed a bit, we were pleasantly surprised to see a familiar sight on the right, so the little lady captured it on her phone.
As we aimed toward the northern coast of Devon, we came upon some scenic coastal roads in the Minehead area. Here's a bum-break photo stop...
A few more photos at a further scene-soaking stop, approaching the town of Lynmouth...
After settling into our B&B, we headed down to the sand of Woolacombe, 3 miles long and nearly a half-mile wide at low tide...
The next morning, we woke up to the pleasant view visible from our bed and balcony...
It was not a biking day, as we'd planned to hike around the NW corner of Devon. I'll include a few photos highlighting the ragged edges of this coastline. The hike ended up being about 10 miles, and we were quite close to cliff-edges, spotting a few seals way down below...
This following pic is an example of how the squiggly trail kept going down into gullies and then up again to the cliffs... my Fitbit said we climbed up and down the equivalent of nearly 200 staircases.
And the bluebells (that we normally only see in forests in our area) covered many open meadows...
The far-point of our hike was the village of Lee, where we enjoyed some ice cream and a shandy at a pub. Thatch-roof homes are always quaint...
The next day, we were back on the bike for a short loop to explore the area. We headed to Ilfracombe, just around the bend on the north coast of Devon. It's got a scenic marina, and an interesting statue at the end of the quay...
Notice that this side of the statue is cut-away showing inerds...
And one more view of the town of Ilfracombe...
Next in our day-loop we headed toward the beach of Saunton. It's just south and similar size to the Woolacombe beach, but is more undeveloped along the shore. This beach has been used for some of the Normandy films...
And on the way back to Woolacombe, a photo stop with a view of the smaller Croyde Bay Beach...
One more walk on Woolacombe beach, with the little lady pointing at our B&B...
I mentioned our detour on the journey home. We had a nice lunch stop in a tiny village where our friends had recently bought this thatch-roof cottage...
Though the forecast had chances of rain, we managed to stay dry the rest of the day. As it was a Friday afternoon, there was more traffic in some areas, and we did some 'filtering' between stopped vehicles. We chose much of the same route home to avoid the rush-hours of Southhampton, Portsmouth and Chichester.
That's all folks.
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